UCLA FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Linebacker Eric Kendricks coming into his own

PASADENA - Familiarity is a big part of confidence, and no one is more sure of himself now than UCLA inside linebacker Eric Kendricks.

The red-shirt sophomore slowly has become the top defender in the Pac-12, averaging a conference-best 9.2 tackles per game. He's had 44 the past three-plus games, including four during the first half Saturday to help UCLA take a 42-3 lead over Arizona at the Rose Bowl.

"Eric is a very talented young man," UCLA coach Jim Mora said earlier this week. "He's a skilled guy who over the past three to four weeks is feeling more comfortable with the position.

"He's executing the techniques we are asking him to execute. He's now got a lot of reps playing this scheme, playing that position. It's becoming more instinctive for him."

Kendricks helped UCLA shut down Arizona's high-powered offense for much of the first half. The Wildcats, who had 588 yards and scored 39 points in a victory over USC last week, were held to 22 yards with two first downs in the first quarter on Saturday.

Arizona finished the first half with 83 yards.

Locke down

Field position is a critical stat that often can define a football team's success.

For UCLA, that's where punter/place kicker Jeff Locke comes in.

Locke arguably is the best in the Pac-12 at pinning the opposition deep in its own end. The senior, who had six touchbacks during the first half Saturday, leads the conference with 49 touchbacks in 57 kickoffs.

He's also tops in dropping punts inside the 10. He leads the conference with 23 in that category.

"Jeff's got an excellent leg," Mora said. "We feel confident with our kick coverage when people run it back. But we're OK with Jeff booting it out of the end zone.

"The best thing Jeff does is punt the ball inside the 10. I've never seen in my entire football life anyone who is as good as punting it inside the 10."

Locke had only one punt in the first half Saturday, but the result was a turnover when the Wildcats' Richard Morrison muffed it and and UCLA's David Allen made the recover.

The turnover led to Damien Thigpen's 1-yard touchdown run that gave UCLA a 28-0 lead with 12:30 left in the first half.

Who are those guys?

UCLA debuted an alternate uniform Saturday that might have had Bruins fans wondering if they were at the right game at the Rose Bowl.

The uniform is similar to UCLA's original colors of navy blue, but with powder blue numerals and a dark blue helmet with the traditional UCLA script.

It's the third significant uniform change in school history. UCLA switched from navy blue and gold in 1949 because then-coach Red Sanders wanted to distinguish the Bruins from Cal and felt the light blue would look better on game films.

UCLA also had an all-white alternate with a white helmet for the game against USC at the Coliseum last season.